{{short description|Unaccredited academic degree}} {{Infobox examination | name = Doctor of Metaphysics | acronym = DMETA | type = {{plainlist| *Postgraduate education *Unaccredited degree}} }}
A '''Doctor of Metaphysics''', also called a '''Metaphysical Science Doctorate''', is a purported academic degree. While mainstream universities teach metaphysics as a branch of philosophy,<ref name="Metaphysics"/> the Doctor of Metaphysics degree is offered by a number of unaccredited universities and degree mills as a religious-based degree. It is not recognized by the United States Department of Education as a legitimate degree, and is not offered by any accredited institution.<ref name="APA"/><ref name="Thyer"/><ref name="Vasche">Vasché, James Burton (1940) “$100 Doctors”: The Facts on Today’s Degree Mill Racket. ''The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas'', 15(3), pp.159-163. {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="Sigrist">Sigrist, J. (1949). "Beware the Mind-Meddler". ''American Journal of Psychotherapy'', 3(1), pp.162-163. {{subscription required}}</ref>
In the United States, Doctor of Metaphysics degrees are offered by purported religious institutions of learning, as well as unrecognised churches and colleges of metaphysics.<ref name="Sofroniou"/> In 1938 the United States Department of the Interior published a book listing the "Doctor of Metaphysics" degree in a section written by Walton C. John, titled "Counterfeit Degrees".<ref name="USD"/>
A 1960 ''American Psychologist'' article titled, "Mail-order training in psychotherapy," warned against unaccredited schools purporting to offer "training in a variety of psychological and metapsychological methods" and awarding a Doctor of Metaphysics degree.<ref name="APA" />
In the field of social work there are counselors who claim the title "Doctor of Metaphysics". In 2019, the ''Journal of Social Work Education'' published "Predatory Doctoral Programs: Warnings for Social Workers". The article warned that the majority of doctoral programs in metaphysics are little more than diploma mills which have few requirements other than payments.<ref name="Thyer"/>
==See also== * Degrees offered by unaccredited institutions of higher education * History of higher education in the United States * List of fields of doctoral studies in the United States * List of unaccredited institutions of higher education
==References== <references>
<ref name="Metaphysics">{{cite web |title=What Is Metaphysics? |url=https://metaphysics.com/what-is-metaphysics/ |website=Metaphysics |access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref> <ref name="Sofroniou">{{cite book |last1=Sofroniou |first1=Andreas |title=Metaphysics Facts and Fallacies |date=2016 |publisher=Andreas Sofroniou |isbn=978-1-326-80745-0 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEw2DQAAQBAJ&dq=doctor+of+metaphysics&pg=PA17 |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> <ref name="USD">{{cite book |first1=Walton C. |last1=John |title=School Life |date=1938 |publisher=United States Department of the Interior Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. |quote=There is seldom of anything of genuine value created by man that, sooner or later, is not found in counterfeit form. |page=245 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57g9MSXgIMIC&dq=Doctor+of+Metaphysics+degree&pg=PA245 |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> <ref name="Thyer">{{cite journal |last1=Thyer |first1=Bruce A. |title=Predatory Doctoral Programs: Warnings for Social Workers |journal=Journal of Social Work Education |date=2 January 2019 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=5–10 |doi=10.1080/10437797.2018.1517624 |s2cid=150751783 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331553758 |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> <ref name="APA">{{cite journal |last1=Brophy |first1=Alfred L. |last2=Durfee |first2=Richard A. |title=Mail-order training in psychotherapy. |journal=American Psychologist|date=June 1960|quote=One school… grants a PhD after as little as 18-months study with no previous college education… . Corrective action has been made difficult because of the geographical scattering of the schools and the consequently minor problem that they represent to most individual states. |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=356–360 |doi=10.1037/h0044462 |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fh0044462 |access-date=8 July 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Metaphysics, Doctor of}} Category:Titles Category:Degrees offered by unaccredited institutions of higher education